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Craft and StructureVery hardFunction of a sentence in a passage about a lost recording

Craft and Structure practice question

The recording was thought lost for sixty years. It survived because a sound engineer, told to wipe the tape for reuse, disobeyed and took it home, where it sat in a cupboard until his daughter found it in 2019. He never mentioned it to anyone. Whether he forgot it or kept it deliberately, nobody now can say, and the daughter, who remembers a quiet man who did not like waste, does not think it matters.

Which choice best describes the function of the sentence "He never mentioned it to anyone" in the text as a whole?

  1. A. It introduces the uncertainty about the engineer's motives that the final sentence takes up.Correct
  2. B. It explains how the tape was found.
  3. C. It describes the recording's contents.
  4. D. It criticises the engineer for disobeying.

Answer: A. It introduces the uncertainty about the engineer's motives that the final sentence takes up.

His silence raises the question the ending leaves open.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It explains how the tape was found.
The finding is in the previous sentence.
C. It describes the recording's contents.
No contents are given.
D. It criticises the engineer for disobeying.
The disobedience saved the tape.

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